Tower of Karma

“Then, let´s change up the conditions and carefully a.n.a.lyze Havella´s case. First… Her a.s.sa.s.sination mission wasn´t successful. This was unrelated to her contribution in the battle. The reason behind the failure was because I was at that place. With there being just the strength of the a.s.sa.s.sins that went to that place, I could easily overwhelm them, thus making the chance of them killing Vrad being zero. I would like you to have knowledge of that.”

Nyuks raised her eyebrows.

[You held a grudge over that man, didn´t you? Then it shouldn´t matter that a.s.sa.s.sins came to kill him. There was no reason for you to protect him. Are you also going to say that you couldn´t let him die because of this girl?]

“I can tell you without doubts that my answer is “no” in regards of that. I am not so naive to the point I would have thoughts such as having Havella avoid dirtying her hands. To begin with, all the people present in this place, with me included, have already dirtied their hands before. If I was thinking of Havella, then it would make more sense to let her kill him already and let her escape.”

[Hmm, makes sense. Continue.]

“There is no mistake that the matter about me holding a grudge over Vrad is correct. I do not have the slightest intention to hide it. My hatred for him was my starting point after all. It is because of that that I want to kill that man with my own hands. And it isn´t just simply killing him. I want to have his death be dramatic; I want it to be perfect; I won´t rest if I don´t gift him the best despair there is. Because of that, it would be troublesome for me if I had him die at that place.”

Nyuks was looking at Willian with the same eyes of someone looking with interest at a toy.

“I have a proposal for that. There is nothing that can write off Havella´s faults of the failure of the a.s.sa.s.sination other than having it be successful. Could you entrust this whole matter to me?”

[The deadline?]

“Within five years.”

Nyuks eyes became wide open. Those eyes were cold and had a hint of hopelessness in it.

[Are you making fun of me? To say you will kill him in five years even though you need to kill him right now…. As to be expected, not even me can stand such a bad excuse. So are we settling this with all the three of you dying here, Willian Rivius!?]

The shout was too cold to be thought of as a shout of anger. However, Nyuks was angry. If this was to continue as it is, the three were going to die. They didn´t know which way they were going to be killed, but they didn´t feel like they would be able to run away from the killing intent of the person in front of their eyes at all.

“It is close to impossible to kill him now. Even if we were to have that Bai long with us to kill Vrad, who surely fortified the security, it would not be enough combat strength. I would like to remind you that the second prince, Eahart, was at that place. Presently, the count Vrad is probably being protected by the royalty with their dignity in line. To kill him right away… only you would be capable of succeeding in such outing.”

The anger in Nyuks eyes wouldn´t vanish. She was expecting the impossible to be made possible. Having Vrad killed within five years was something that any a.s.sa.s.sin would be capable of. This was too weak for a proposal.

“To begin with, why was his a.s.sa.s.sination planned to happen at that place? It would have been just fine to have him killed in his own residence without any people knowing of it. Rather, this way would have been much easier for the a.s.sa.s.sins. In that case, would there be any need for it to happen there?”

The anger in Nyuks eyes dimmed, and a hint of interest started to appear.

“This was done to be set as a lesson for him. To die in front of the royalty is the most unsightly way to die for a n.o.ble. That was the condition of the mission. The client is a n.o.ble, and also a person that hates count Vrad extremely, am I wrong?”

The n.o.bility had the role of protecting the royalty. That same n.o.bility was going to be killed in front of the eyes of the royalty. Just by having the royalty caught up into the matter is enough to cause discomfort. If one gets their displeasure, not only would that very person die, but his honor would be blemished, and it was also possible for the whole household to be destroyed. It was possible to imagine that this was the vengeance plan of a n.o.ble.

“Hence, thinking about the client´s wishes, I´ve thought of a even better plan to have the count taste the h.e.l.l of this world. I need about five years of time to set it up. Of course, if it is to just kill him, I can do so anytime then. However, in order to satisfy the desire of revenge… time is necessary.”

The eyes Nyuks was looking at Willian with completely changed.

“I will prepare for the count an exuberant and dramatic death; the ultimate living h.e.l.l that is impossible for a.s.sa.s.sins to prepare. It shall be to the point that he will regret not having died then… How is it? Although it is impossible to kill him right now, to kill him in a suitable place for the deed is to respect the client´s wishes. For that sake, would you give me time and wager on me?”

The darkness of the night fell in silence. An instant of tension; she could kill them if she simply wanted to. That feeling of tension a.s.saulted Willian.

[…This will suffice for the a.s.sa.s.sination. However, it is not enough.]

Although it had been a very difficult bridge to cross, Willian was able to cross over it. There were many holes regarding his plan to take over the a.s.sa.s.sination mission. In first place, all Willian had was an a.s.sumption about the client´s motives. If he had been wrong, he would have been immediately killed. He hoped he was correct. If it wasn´t, there would be nothing that he could do. Pretty much all of it went just the way he hoped for. Willian had been lucky.

“While it is fine for me to take over the mission, I still need to make up for the a.s.sa.s.sin that has failed her mission… Would it be something along this line?

[You are really good at guessing. I will leave this job to you. However, that girl has already set her foot onto the path of an a.s.sa.s.sin. I don´t need compensation for those that died, but I need people that are alive. The compensation for one life; can you pay for it?

Willian was indeed really lucky. Willian took away the thing that he had hanging on his neck and hidden at his chest. It was a red, bright and beautiful…

“It is this ruby. It´s size and cut quality is of the highest grade. The craftsmanship was done by a designer employed by the Teirah family…. Could you accept this as the compensation?”

The ruby he received from Lutogarde. It was aching that he would have to hand it over, but to protect something precious, he needed to sacrifice something of equal value.

[That´s not a bad article. This is indeed a very extraordinary price for a single little girl. You are not bad at striking deals.]

Nyuks had a somewhat bored expression. Willian was able to reason with her, but he might not have been able to satisfy her, which was the essential part. Everything that happened at this place happened according to Nyuks´ mood. She could get the ruby if she just killed Willian. She also didn´t have any obligation in letting Willian take on the a.s.sa.s.sination. Originally, it was the client´s fault for being stingy on the money despite setting absurd conditions. If Bai Long and his other followers had been deployed, the a.s.sa.s.sination would have been successful even though Willian was there. The risk of failure certainly must have been informed to the client beforehand.

There was no reason for the three not to be killed there. All the benefits, with its demerits included, were being offsetted. On the other hand, there were only benefits for killing the three. It was still weak. It was no good if he simply tackled the matter head-on. Without giving one more step forward, he wouldn´t be able to satisfy the ruler of the night.

“Now, I will be talking about more personal matters.”

Contrary to the expected conclusion of the negotiations, Willian opened his mouth.

“To me, this ruby is too much to let my hands go of. More importantly, it isn´t something that I can casually say I just lost somewhere; I received this treasure because I´ve pledged loyalty to a certain family. Of course, I can´t compare that to the life of my friend. Thus, I have one proposal.”

In her eyes that were tainted by boredom…

“I am the sword of Karl Von Teirah, the successor of the Teirah household. I have official connections with them and I completely won over their trust. Previously, I´ve been invited to be part of their business. I´ve been told that if I thought of any ideas for projects, I could promote it by using the company affiliated to the Teirah family anytime. And with that, I´ve thought of a very good idea that could prove to be beneficial to both of us.”

… great interest appeared.

“The a.s.sa.s.sins guild certainly must deal with poison and things of the sort. Poison and medicine, or better said, pharmaceutical products, are very expensive. It must have been very  difficult for you to use illegal routes of some distant place to get your supplies. That is both in terms of money and personnel expenses. However, if you were to get into the Teirah family´s business, the importing cost will greatly decrease. After all, one needs to jump into the prevailing flow… In addition, you won´t need to make use of smuggling as much anymore. The Teirah family is a n.o.ble family. Even though this usually wouldn´t be approved it is another story if it is the company owned by a n.o.ble. It will be difficult for them to deny the entry of the goods if we just say we are selling it to medics or scientists. Of course, we will actually be selling to them in the end after all.”(TL note:->何しろ今ある流れに乗せるだけですから

What Willian was speaking of was the most unexpected of proposals. It was about business. This wasn´t something to speak about in such place and at a time like this. Of course, this wasn´t a place you could come and go as many times you wanted. So was the case, but the proposal still deviated too much from the track. This wasn´t something to be talked about when you were putting your life on the line.

“If the a.s.sa.s.sins guild, the kingdom of the night has many requests, then at that same time, it becomes a company. This is a deal with the Teirah family, the one that rules over jewels and that is spread throughout the whole world. There isn´t anyone that wouldn´t make use of a deal like this. How is it? How about both of us obtaining profits in this business, and then once the net profit surpa.s.ses the cost of the ruby, you give it back to me? There are no disadvantages. There are only gains for us both.”

To such proposal, even Nyuks…

[Ku, kuku, fuhahahahaha!]

… couldn´t help but laugh.

[You are the first fellow to come to me with such a shameless proposal. Very interesting. It is just as I expected… [You people] are much more human than I am]

Before one´s notice, Nyuks was standing right in front of Willian. She touched Willian´s cheek. Willian´s whole body raised screams at the coldness of her finger. That was the coldness of the dead.

[So you will be using me to rush up to above. That really is about the depth of the karma. Fine then; there are many conditions, but I will agree to your deal. The ruler of the night Nyuks vows. However, you must keep the promise of driving count Vrad into the depths of despair within five years, and also to satisfy my interest. Is that understood?]

Nyuks spoke next to Willian´s ear as if she was chirping like a bird. The coldness of her breathing would also give the sensation of death. But whether this coldness represented that she could have the three killed any time if Willian hadn´t proposed that deal, or whether this represented something else…

“Very well. I will prepare a cost estimate sheet and other things for our future plans.”

[You are to directly hand it to me… I will give the right of entry to this kingdom and also the permission to enter this place to only to you. The rest… I won´t give you the permission since you can´t become residents of the night.”

Without even looking at the faces of the two people behind, she looked solely at Willian.

[Don´t disappoint me. The night is always looking at you. We will meet again, white child becoming of avarice.]

With those words becoming the turning point, the door behind opened and the curtains of the night closed. Nyuks vanished, and what was before their eyes was the door that had been closed before and Bai Long, who was standing next to it.

“…So you came back alive. Then I have nothing to reprove. Now, you will be leaving this place.”

It wasn´t clear what unfolded there, or whether this was reality in first place.

“What was… that thing?”

Kail let a few words slip his from mouth. Hearing that, Bai Long snorted.

“n.o.body knows. It is said she have been living since the founding of Arcadia. It isn´t even known whether she is alive. Whether she is a human or a demon… Her power goes far beyond a small fry like me.”

Bai Long started walking without saying anything else. The three hurriedly followed behind him.

“If something such as a living corpse exists… perhaps it should be something like that. The dead can´t die, so its time is infinite. If one fears death, as expected, one must not oppose the ruler of night. The one you would be facing is [death] itself after all…”

Words that could be heard, although it wasn´t known where they came from. The fact that the one that spoke them was the king of daylight of a previous generation that had suffered a unnatural death was something Willian and the others didn´t know.